Several terminals at Los Angeles International Airport experienced a power outage Wednesday afternoon which threatened outgoing flights from the airport.
LAX officials first shared news of the unexplained outage just before 3pm, alerting passengers of potential trouble ahead.
‘@LADWP is assessing a power issue impacting some LAX facilities at this time. The airfield is operating normally but some terminals, traffic lights and other systems may not have power. Our teams are working on the issues with DWP now,’ LAX officials said in a tweet.
The airport’s official Twitter account said the issue also caused TSA to stop screening passengers.
The power was eventually restored just before 3.30pm and the cause of the outage is under investigation at this time.
This is the tweet LAX officials sent out just before 3pm on Wednesday
‘Most’ of LAX’s nine terminals were impacted by the outage, airport officials said
‘Due to the power issue TSA has stopped screening passengers in most terminals so please allow extra time. Crews are responding as quickly as possible to restore all systems,’ LAX’s Twitter account wrote just before 3pm.
At the time, officials did not disclose exactly how many of their nine terminals were impacted, but said it was the majority of them.
‘Most of our terminals are impacted by the loss of power and crews are assessing the issue,’ airport officials shared.
Representatives also shared there could be flight delays.
‘Some departing flights may be impacted due to no power to jet bridges,’ LAX tweeted.
Less than 20 minutes after tweeting about the potential delays, the power was officially brought back.
‘Power has been restored to most locations or is coming online. TSA is expected to resume screening in the terminals within 10-15 minutes,’ LAX representatives wrote in a tweet at 3.08pm.
The power outage caused TSA to shut down screenings for outbound passengers
Just before 4pm, power was officially restored to the entire airport
The situation could have been drastic for the airport which is the fifth busiest in the world, according to the Airports Council International.
Despite LAX and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power working quickly to get power back on line, some were hesitant to celebrate.
‘Currently sitting at LAX as most of the terminals have been hit by power failure. This is after a flight cancellation,’ said one person.
‘Will the airlines delay boarding their flights since we’re all stuck here for an hour in the security line?’ asked one Twitter user.
‘This is presumably going to start causing ripples of delays all through the US flight network and even internationally (esp if Tom Bradley is directly impacted),’ wrote another person.
One person shared photos from inside the airport showed people standing around the airport as all of the screens had gone blank
Another person claiming to be in the airport shared this photo to Twitter Wednesday afternoon
One person shared photos from inside the airport showed people standing around the airport as all of the screens had gone blank.
‘The power just went out at LAX????’ the Twitter user named Dev wrote.
This isn’t the first time the major airport has experienced significant power issues.
In June 2019, LAX lost power, stranding hundreds of passengers.
At that time, more than 50 flights were canceled due to the more than three hour outage.
The outage prompted cancellations by United and Southwest Airlines.
Southwest was also forced to divert flights.
In June 2019, LAX lost power, stranding hundreds of passengers
The outage prompted cancellations by United and Southwest Airlines
Despite LAX and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power working quickly to get power back on line, some were hesitant to celebrate
The Transportation Security Administration was forced to rescreen travelers, a process which took about an hour, officials said at the time.
‘An airline granted passengers whose flights were cancelled access to their checked bags, resulting in the unintentional introduction of prohibited items into the secure area of the airport,’ the TSA said.
‘Out of an abundance of caution, TSA leadership at LAX made the decision to re-screen the passengers,’ the organization said.
The cause of that outage was determined to have been a glitch at a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power station.
